Babbited bearings

[44B@Ohio]

I asked a couple days ago how much it costs to get the babbits poured for my 1944 B. Does anyone know of a machine shop in NW Ohio, or relatively close to here that is capable of pouring them? Thanks guys.

 

[Rwolfejr]

Pouring the babbit isn't so much of a big deal as making or having a nice jig to machine them accurately afterward. Most any decent engine machine shop would probably be able to handle it for you, but finding one that already has the jig would save you money. I'd try Odon machine in Odon Indiana. They might already have a jig and that'd save you $$. Might also try Manitowoc Motor Machining in Wisconsin.

When pouring the bearings or having them poured you might want to consider placing shims between the cap and rod before finish machining. Reason being... as the bearings wear you can cheat a little and pull your caps and remove a shim to get fit back. Not any great amount... but enough to buy a second life out of the bearing anyway. Maybe go with a couple .005 thick shimes each side and possibly get a weak third life out of them?

You might want to consider doing the pour yourself and then have any good shop finish bore for you? Search pouring babbit connecting rods. Then maybe search pouring babbit safety. You have to be careful that you don't introduce a drop of water to the molten metal. And wear safe gloves, goggles etc...

 

[Mark-Ia]

Probably a Lot cheaper to buy a good set on Ebay, or advertise for a good set.

 

[F-I-T]

(quoted from post at 09:01:06 12/17/12) I asked a couple days ago how much it costs to get the babbits poured for my 1944 B. Does anyone know of a machine shop in NW Ohio, or relatively close to here that is capable of pouring them? Thanks guys.

I lived near Fostoria for 20 years, and there was no one around there that poured babbit. I had to teach myself. There was a guy advertizing in the magazines. Paul's Rod and Bearing.

http://parkville.info/pauls/

I poured some for my "H" back in the day. Now to do it truly right, you install the shim pack, then they would have been poured around a plug the same size as the crank, leveled and clamped down, preheated to take the chill off, then in goes the babbit. Some even patted a bit of clay around any openings where it could leak out. If you do it right, there is virtually no machining. Deere may have even placed the entire fixture in an oven with unmelted babbit in a funnel above. The babbit melts, drips into the fixture, and then you start it cooling.

The old guy who showed me how used to pour bearings for Worthington air compressors.

Now I did it the sloppy way, so that I could put it on the old Bridgeport, used a facemill to clean the sides, a boring head to do the interior, and did the chamfer reliefs on a rotary table. For the plug, I used a piece of round maple stock so I didn't have to fill the whole center with babbit.

 

[Larry Baker]

Kohnke /Rebabbiting Service
Clare,Iowa
515-546-4551

 

[john dudgeon]

About 10 years ago I had my '35 B rod and main bearings babbited by D & D Engine Service, Mt Gilead, OH. Dwayne specializes in Model A and T Fords. He did a fine job except the radius on the rod rearings was smaller than the radius on the crank journals. I scraped the radius larger with no problem. I expect if you provided them with the correct radius size, they would get it right. Their ph# 419-768-3282.